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SOCRATES AND HIS FRIENDS

	ARISTOPHANES	XENOPHON	PLATO
Was Socrates a teacher?	YES	YES	YES
Did Socrates do natural sciences?	YES	NO	NO
Did Socrates accept money?	YES	NO	NO
Was Socrates a Sophist?	YES	YES ?	NO
Did Socrates believe in the gods?	NO	YES	YES

Was Socrates a 'martyr'?	NO, a fraud.	NO (?) a voluntary suicide.	YES, a Hero for Truth

There are only three contemporary written sources for Socrates' career:

(1) ARISTOPHANES, the comic poet, who produced a play about Socrates, called the Clouds, in ca. 425 B.C.

(2) XENOPHON, born ca. 430 B. C., a conservative pro-Spartan and pro-aristocratic pupil of Socrates. He later became a military commander and an historian and essayist. He wrote Memorabilia in three books about Socrates.

(3) PLATO, born ca. 427, a descendant of Solon's father, and thus a member of the Athenian ex-royal family. A professional philosopher, who wrote a quartet of tracts on Socrates' last days: Euthyphro, Apology, Crito, Phaedo.